William Shatner’s favorite Star Trek episode is also one of the show’s most controversial

This classic and somewhat controversial episode of Star Trek: The Original Series is William Shatner’s favorite. William Shatner became a household name thanks to his role as Captain James T. Kirk, the commanding officer of the USS. Enterprise. throughout toss three seasons, Captain Kirk and his crew travel the galaxy in search of new life And meeting all manner of fascinating alien creatures and cultures. Along with his science officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelly), Kirk eventually became one of the most recognizable and beloved characters in science fiction.

Star Trek: The Original Series Endure and withstand the test of time while undoubtedly being a product of the 1960s. Thanks to the compelling characters and well-written stories, many TOS Episodes hold up well today. William Shatner has a personal reason for choosing this late season 1 episode as his favorite, What he talks about in his 1993 memoir, Star Trek Memories. Shatner dives into his time as Captain Kirk in his first book, sharing memories from the set of Star Trek and interviewing various cast and crew members.

Why William Shatner chose “Devil in the Dark” as his favorite Star Trek episode

Shatner also expressed a fondness for “The City on the Edge of Forever.”

in star trek memories, William Shatner quotes Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1, episode 25, “The Devil in the Dark” as his favorite episode of the series. Following Kirk, Spock and McCoy as they investigate a series of deaths at a mining facility, “The Devil in the Dark” has some iconic Star Trek Moments. Kirk and his crew soon discover that a silicon-based lifeform called the Horta is behind the attacks, but only because it is trying to protect its children. In one particularly famous scene, Spock mind melds with the Horta to communicate with him.

William Shatner says ‘The Devil in the Dark’ has a great story, but that’s not why he chose it as his favorite Star Trek episode. While filming “The Devil in the Dark”, Shatner learned that his father had passed away, but he insisted on finishing all his dialogue scenes before he left for the funeral. Shatner said that Leonard Nimoy’s line delivery during the opinion piece scene made him laugh, And he appreciated how the cast and crew helped him through the difficult time. Gene Roddenberry, Leonard Nimoy, and Star Trek: Discovery Anthony Rapp also praised the episode.

Star Trek’s “Devil in the Dark” controversy explained

This Star Trek episode has no speaking parts for women

While Star Trek: The Original Series Progressive in many ways, “The Devil in the Dark” has the unfortunate distinction of being the only episode with no female speaking parts. All miners on this planet are human and Captain Kirk leads an away team that is also composed entirely of humans. Captain Kirk, Spock, and McCoy eventually discover the Horta to be a mother protecting his young, but that hardly counts as a female character. For one thing, it’s unclear if the Horta even have different genders, and the creature is portrayed by a male stunt actor named Janos Prohaska.

Even NBC of the 1960s noted the lack of women in “The Devil in the Dark.” After the episode aired, Gene Roddenberry wrote a letter to writer/producer Gene L. Coon NBC suggested the writers incorporate more female characters into the “Planet Stories.” Roddenberry himself agreed with the studio’s sentiment and emphasized that they must remind everyone involved in the production. “We are in a century where women are given equal status and responsibility with men.” Despite its lack of female characters, “The Devil in the Dark” remains a compelling and memorable episode of Star Trek: The Original Series Which has withstood the test of time.

Strange New Worlds will never make Star Trek: Toss’ mistake

A strange New World episode with no women speaking is impossible

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a canonical prequel set about a half-dozen years earlier Star Trek: The Original SeriesBut it is impossible for Strange New Worlds to make TOS‘ Error with “the devil in the dark.” The figure of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is stacked with important female leads, from Number One (Rebecca Romine) to Nurse Christine Chappell (Jess Bush). The younger version of Lt. Uhura is still Ensign Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) in Strange New WorldsAnd It is impossible that the cast would have an episode where the female characters did not have speaking roles.

The younger version of Captain Kirk, Lt. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), is a recurring character on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. It is still years before Kirk becomes captain of the Enterprise, and his friendship with Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) is just getting started. Star Trek: The Original Series is a product of its time, as is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Since Strange New Worlds Hopes to continue long enough to put all the pieces in place for Star Trek: The Original SeriesIt will be interesting to see if the prequel will try to Reconcile the different tones of the two Star Trek Series made 60 years apart.